Miss Israel Sees Miss Iraq at Pageant, Then Things Take an Unusual Turn

During the Miss International Beauty Pageant on Tuesday in Japan, Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman, and Miss Iraq, Sarah Idan, briefly posed for photos that they then shared on their respective Instagram accounts.

“Get to know, this is Miss Iraq and she’s amazing,” Gandelsman wrote on her Instagram profile.

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“Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel,” Idan wrote on her page.

The Jerusalem Post argued that Idan’s decision to pose with Gandelsman was “especially impressive” because of the blowback non-Israeli Middle Eastern contestants have previously faced for associating with Israel.

“Miss Lebanon Amanda Hanna lost her title in August 2017 after it was learned that she visited Israel in 2016 on an academic trip,” the Post noted.

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Another Lebanese contestant, Sally Greige, was likewise threatened with a loss of her status in 2015 after she posted a seflie that featured Miss Israel, Doron Matalon.

According to The Times of Israel, Greige claimed afterward that Matalon had been harassing her throughout the competition.

“After trying many times to take a selfie with Miss Lebanon, Miss Israel finally succeeded — without Miss Lebanon’s approval, of course,” her agent, Richard Pharaon, said. “Sally was running away from her all the time since she was being chased by her. She stands for her country no matter what.”

“Posting this does not mean that I am supporting the Israeli government and does not mean that I accept any of their policies toward the Arab world,” she reportedly wrote in response.

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“I apologize to anyone who saw it has harming the Palestinian cause,” she added, “this was not the purpose of the post. It’s … a call for peace and hope for an end to the crisis.”

She also reportedly wrote that “Gandelsman had indicated that she hoped for a day that her children would not have to undertake compulsory military service, as most Israeli Jews do after leaving high school,” according to i24NEWS.